Siemens AG will shut down its solar power unit after failing to find a buyer following losses of at least $1 billion since 2011. The shutdown of the solar division will affect about 280 workers at Europe’s biggest engineering company. Siemens said it will complete unfinished solar contracts, which include projects in Spain, where it paid 115 million euros in charges in the three months to the end of December for delays in the sector, before finalizing the unit’s closure.

IFC Reports that Over 60% of Geothermal Wells Drilled Globally were Successful

International Finance Corporation has released a new report regarding the success of geothermal wells drilled all over the world with data taken from both public and private sources. The report finds that for those wells which status could be verified, 78 percent of wells drilled were successful. In two thirds of the fields in the database, more than 60 percent of wells were successful. IFC notes that this is the first global database of wells in geothermal fields, making it the largest database of its kind.

California Energy Storage Plan May Need $3 Billion Investment

Energy companies may invest as much as $3 billion on power-storage systems in California to encourage wider use of renewable energy. Utilities owned by PG&E Corp., Sempra Energy and Edison International would be required to obtain 1,325 megawatts of storage capacity by 2020 under a June 10 proposal from the California Public Utilities Commission. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst Brian Warshay, storage systems based on lithium-batteries, which retain electricity, and molten salt, which holds heat that’s used to run a turbine to produce energy, may help utilities meet the requirements.

Solar Likely to Power 20% of New Homes in California This Year

As SunPower prepares to install its 10,000th residential system, the company says that they expect that solar power will be on 20% of all new homes built in California this year. California Solar Initiative (CSI) data shows that 4,000 new homes were built with solar in California last year. SunPower observes that that’s 10 times the number built in 2006. While previously some realtors thought solar could reduce the value of a home, newer evidence shows that solar adds some $17,000 to the resale value of homes in California.